My mother’s funeral was on Sunday, January 21. While it was a somber affair, the fact that I had my entire family around me helped buffer the sadness. We all held up well by leaning on each other. I have to thank my wife and kids for being so supportive and understanding throughout this whole experience, and I’m especially proud …
My Mother’s Obituary
I’m sure I’ll have more to say about this later, but for now: My mother’s obituary: Helen Fink Forbeck of Beloit, Wisconsin, passed away at her home on January 14, 2018, surrounded by her loving family. Helen was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, on December 7, 1944, and was raised in her family home in Menasha, Wisconsin. She graduated from St. …
I’m in a Wall Street Journal Video About Gerrymandering
Earlier this month, Madeline Marshall of the Wall Street Journal came out to interview me for a piece she’s doing on gerrymandering and the corrosive effects it can have on democracy. You can see the results here. I may be on the splash image, but I’m only in it for a handful of seconds. If you’re the impatient sort, my …
Help Homeless Teens, Get a Free Book!
As I mentioned earlier this month, my wife, Ann, is one of the founders of Project 16:49, a non-profit dedicated to helping homeless teens here in Rock County, Wisconsin. Ann and her book club (the Bibliobabes) are joining Project 16:49’s Lip Sync Battle, a big event in Janesville, WI, tomorrow night: February 27, 2016. They’re going to be performing on stage as part …
Lip Syncing for Project 16:49
My wife, Ann, is one of the founders of Project 16:49, a non-profit dedicated to helping homeless teens here in Rock County, Wisconsin. While she’s no longer on the board (she’s focusing on her job as a high school social worker instead), she still regularly helps out the organization with all the wonderful things they do for some of our area’s neediest …
My Teens for Project 16:49’s Homeless Teens
My quadruplets–Pat, Nick, Ken, and Helen–turned 13 last Friday, catapulting us from having one teenager in the house (their older brother, Marty) to five. We’re having a big party for them here in Beloit this weekend, but instead of asking for presents, they decided to ask for donations to Project 16:49, a local nonprofit that serves Rock County’s homeless teens. My …
Goodbye, Aaron Allston
I got the terrible news last night that Aaron Allston died earlier in the day. From what I can piece together, he’d arrived in Branson, Missouri, to be a guest of honor at VisionCon this weekend, where he collapsed and was taken to the hospital but did not recover. Our mutual friend Allen Varney posted an excellent obituary for Aaron last night. Go …
Happy 40th, D&D!
Today is, as declared by Jon Peterson of Playing at the World, the 40th birthday of Dungeons & Dragons. It’s impossible for me to say how much this game changed my life and set me on the path to my career, but the best part about that is how many people I know that can say the same thing. For that, …
The Great Heffalump Exchange
Earlier this week, my pal Mike Selinker–the head of Lone Shark Games–asked a bunch of the people he regularly works with to join him in a holiday gift swap, something often called a white elephant exchange. Being Mike, he had a few twists on it. Since few of us live in the same city, we’d do the exchange virtually. Since …
My-My-My-My-My-My Glaucoma
As I’ve mentioned, I was diagnosed with glaucoma back on October 30 of this year. I get a lot of questions about it, so I want to try to answer some of them here. Glaucoma.org is a fine place to dig a little deeper if you’re curious about it. Glaucoma is a disease of the eye that usually involves an …